Koskella: When it comes to climate change, don’t forget the microbes

Submitted by Krystin Ventura on Tue, 06/18/2019 - 18:31

A new consensus statement published in Nature Reviews Microbiology raises awareness of the alarming consequences of global climate change on microbes, which have critical functions in animal and human health, agriculture, the global food web and industry.

“Bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms support the existence of all higher lifeforms and will shape the response of plants and animals to climate change,” says IB Assistant Professor Britt Koskella, one of the authors of the statement. “Microbes are themselves also profoundly affected by climate change, but are rarely the focus of climate change research, education or policy.”